Kevin Durant did exactly what he was supposed to do on Thursday, after his hometown newspaper admittedly missed the mark by blasting the Thunder star with a huge headline that dubbed Durant “Mr. Unreliable.”

As with any tidbit of controversy surrounding the game’s biggest stars, LeBron James was asked to weigh in on the situation. And he was more than happy to chide the paper for its treatment of the Thunder’s best player.

“I don’t think that was a great idea,” James said. “Not your hometown paper. Not with a team you helped to get to the NBA Finals, [and will] potentially be an MVP, a multiple scoring champ and have led his team to a place it’s never been before.”

James then paused briefly before referring to Durant’s potential decision to play elsewhere after his contract ends with the Thunder following the 2015-16 season.

“K.D.’s got to be a free agent at some point,” said James, who rocked the league when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers after seven seasons to sign with Miami as a free agent in 2010.

LeBron knew exactly what he had said, and reportedly joked with reporters that he had given them their national headline of the day. But there was some truth in there, as well.

If you really break it down, the headline thing was overblown, because it was ultimately just one person’s decision. But as the newspaper of record in a smaller market like Oklahoma City, it carries significant weight, and can help to influence the opinions of the town’s more casual sports fans.

Durant may some day leave in free agency, and so much more will happen between then and now that this little headline issue will have long become a distant memory. But a memory it will remain, and for that reason alone, LeBron is absolutely right.

That’s a fine sentiment. Saying it publicly is another matter. Not even Harden did that a couple years ago. He was recorded during a pregame team huddle.

There’s a fine line between self-fulfilling confidence and providing bulletin-board material to the opponent. There’s already some animosity between the teams stemming from the Stephen Curry-Harden MVP race in 2015, and it has bubbled since. No matter how harmless Capela’s remark might have been intended to be, it’ll be met contentiously in the Bay Area.

Oklahoma City traded for Victor Oladipo out of Orlando to be their third scorer, behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It didn’t exactly work out that way, Durant bolted town and when Westbrook went off Oladipo was looking for a place to fit in.

That place turned out to be the Pacers.

Oladipo has been playing like an All-Star this season with Indiana, and last week he was key in snapping Cleveland’s 13 game win streak, then turned around and dropped 47 points on Denver. For the week he averaged 35.7 points a game, shot 45.7 percent from three, plus grabbed 7.7 rebounds per game.